When My Mommy Came to Visit

I have been so lucky to have so many people wanting to come and visit me. It has really helped with the homesickness. However, I am still aching to go back to Utah (I miss my Mountains and the rest of the fam).

My mom came to see us this last weekend and boy did we have a great time. It rained the whole time she was here except for the last day so we spent a lot of time indoors. We made jewelry, laughed a lot, and went shopping at a store here called, Gabriel Brothers, that reminds me a lot of the DI except for the fact that all the stuff is new. We did venture outside in between the rain so my momma could get a look of our new surroundings. We went to Twin Lakes Park to see all the beauty of fall back here and of course we couldn't have a visit from Grammy Bo without visiting a yard sale! Thanks Mommy for coming to see us, we had a Blast!

Grammy and Brady

Carter Wanted to be in the Picture Too

Our Ventures Outside: Cool Bridge, Huh?

Twin Lakes Park: Lots of Fog from the Rain

The Yard Sale

Schramm Farm: The Pumpkin Patch

On the last day of my mom's visit we went to Schramm Farm to experience the fall festivities. This farm is less than a mile from our house and was so much fun to visit. It was really muddy because of all the rain we had the few days prior. We went through a corn and hay-bale maze, took a little pony ride, did a lot of goofing off, and of course found the perfect pumpkins!

Grammy with the Kiddies

Bert & Ernie

Hay-Bale Maze: "I did it!"

Pumpkin King and Queen

The "Short Bus"

Yea for Pumpkins

A Pumpkin Snowman

Pretending to be Scarecrows

A ride on "Rocket" the Pony

This One's for Megan

The Perfect Pumpkins

More Birthday Fun

While Grammy Bo was here visiting, we celebrated Brady's birthday with a big party. I felt so sick, but with Grammy's help we all had a great time! Daddy made hamburgers and homemade french-fries for dinner and then all the fun began. Our friends, the Bloomfield's came up to celebrate with us. We played pin the tail on the zebra, one-potato-two-potatoe, and tried popping balloons by sitting on them (it was really funny). We also made a halloween (gingerbread) haunted house and ate lots of Spider Man cake and carmel apples!

Braden with his Spider Man cake

All Braden wanted for his birthday was

"Spider Man Fluffies" and a "Spider Man Umbrellella"

Making the Haunted House

The Finished House

This is what the dad's did during the party

Also, the missionaries serving in our area stopped by to bring Braden a special present. They had gone to the dollar store and bought everything they could that was Spider Man related; bouncy balls, plates, a frisbee, a paddle ball, bubbles, and a sandwich keeper just to name a few. They are regular visitors to ours and the Bloomfield's houses (they must know we are willing to feed them) and it was so nice of them to make the special trip to surprise Braden.

Braden and Colter with Elder Brown and Elder Worthin

Braden call's both the missionaries "Elder Brown;" he seems to always forget Elder Worthin's name.

MY BABY is 3

I can't believe it, my little boy is 3 today! I just love this kid. He says the funniest stuff and is one of the most loving people I know. He is always telling me he loves me and that I'm his best friend, or at least while daddy is away. He is definitely a daddy's boy. He is really smart and his favorite thing to do is go to "church" (Nursery); each week I ask him what he did in nursery and he tells me, "I play toys and learn about Jesus." He has such a sweet little testimony already. He says his prayers every day and last week while watching conference he came and told Kam and me, "I want to be a missionary just like Uncle Kris!"

Today wasn't the most exciting day (we are having his party on Friday when my mom is here) but we did make halloween decorations, opened presents from Gram and Grampa, and Braden and I went on a date to see Toy Story in 3-D! The funniest part of the day was when I finally took some time to get in the shower. Carter had just woken up from his nap and Braden was playing in his room so I asked Braden to let Carter play with him and not to let Carter go out the door (I didn't want Carter to crawl and fall down the stairs.) I checked on them after I got out and found that Braden did what I asked and kept the door closed so his brother wouldn't get out but Braden wasn't in the room with him, he was downstairs asleep on the floor! Was I really in the shower that long? Thank you Braden for keeping your brother safe!

Opening a Present from Gram and Grampa

Playing with his new Book

A Sleepy Birthday Boy

"Make a Wish...

...and Blow!"

we can't forget about Carter

Carter has not been much of a crawler. He has been army-crawling since he was about 7 months. He can pull himself up to his hands and knees and will crawl "normally" sometimes especially if the end result is wanting to be in a sitting position. Despite his way of crawling, he gets into everything and is really fast. This morning he decided to teach himself to do this...

I cry every time

Kameron and I have experienced so many blessings as we have made the decision to move our family away. We have been embraced by wonderful ward members and leaders, we have made some great friends, and we have been blessed financially as well. Because of the fact that Kam cannot work while in his program we are left to be even more frugal than we ever have before.We don't have any money whatsoever. We are living off of student loans, putting ourselves into debt, something we have never done before. With this in mind I have made every effort to find any and every resource to help us out. I am so grateful for this wonderful Country that we live in and the opportunities that it offers to those who are struggling. We have been blessed to qualify for both WIC and SNAP (formerly called Food Stamps). This extra blessing in our life is making this whole experience so much better and easier for us. We truly are so blessed and I am proud to be an AMERICAN!